History

The National Children’s Advocacy Center is located in Huntsville, Alabama, and has revolutionized our nation’s response to child sexual abuse since its creation under the leadership of Bud Cramer. The work of the NCAC serves as a beacon of hope for more than 250,000 child abuse victims every year.

The NCAC is based in Huntsville, Alabama. Each year, thousands of people from the United States and around the world are trained on how to recognize and support endangered children. More than 54,000 child abuse professionals from all 50 states and 20 countries have been trained by the NCAC.

Robert E. “Bud” Cramer (AL)

This leader in the fight against child abuse began simply: a community whowanted a better way to help young victims of sexual abuse.

In 1985, Former Congressman Robert E. "Bud" Cramer (AL), who was thena District Attorney, organized an effort to create a better system tohelp abused children.

The social service and the criminal justice systems at the time were not working together in an effective manner that the children could trust. This common problem added to the children's emotional distress, and created a segmented, repetitious, and often frightening experience for the child victims.

After developing its innovative team approach on the local level, the NCAC earned a national reputation and used it to train others to deal effectively with this critical problem.

Through its influence in training, communities across the country began to model their child abuse programs after the NCAC in Huntsville. In addition to training programs throughout the year, the NCAC hosts the National Symposium on Child Abuse in March of each year in Huntsville, Alabama.

Since its creation in 1985, the NCAC has served as a model for the 800+ CACs now operating in the United States and more than 10 countries throughout the world.